AdWords advertising rules

Google has specific rules that have to be met, otherwise your advertisement will not be shown. If you meet the rules that does not mean that your ad will be well positioned. It only means that your Google AdWord advertisement will be shown.

Checking different ads on Google, you will see, that there are really bad advertisements. Sometimes the advertisements shown will be contrary to googles advertisement rules – don’t take it personally! Sometimes the robot takes a while to check new advertisements.

Our experience is, that even the google employees can not tell you about all the different algorithms that lead to the result, that some advertisements are shown and others are not. Sometimes we have the feeling, that big companies like amazon or ebay are controlled less intense than small or medium sized companies – but this is just a feeling and we can not prove it.

Let’s say that the Google network is huge and of course it is hard to control all advertisements, keywords and settings very fast. Some advertisers use this delay and try to outsmart the system for at least hours or days. We do not recommend this. Worst case scenario is, that google closes your account. That is why we strongly recommend to know and respect the advertising guidelines.

Adwords-Guidelines

Within the last years more and more guidelines were required. I will list some of the most important guidelines to start with:

These are the basic guidelines. It is necessary, that you follow these guidelines, otherwise your ads will not be shown and Google might even close down your account, if you keep on violating these rules.

Please make also sure, that your advertisement is truthful. It is not allowed to use superlatives like “we have the best fishsticks in the world”. But what if it is right and your fishsticks are the best in the world and you can proof it? Show the certificate on the same page where your ad links to and you should not get in trouble.

If you work with prices or discounts in your advertisement, Google will also check, if your advertisement matches your website.

It is allowed to say, that your products are “very cheap” or that you sell “high quality fishsticks”.

You are allowed to use competitive claims such as “faster than” or “better than” as long as there is verification by a third party on your website. Third parties are not customer testimonials! They must be someone or a group that is not related to your company.

There are some topics that are reviewed intensively. Here is a list with restricted products and services:

Every ad has to comply with laws and regulations. Make sure that you meet all regulations related to trademark, copyright and counterfeit goods, other wise your advertisement will not be shown.

You should try to push your future customer onto your website by telling him that your offer exists only a certain time or you have only a certain amount e.g.: “Christmas Sepcial” or “Only 200$ until 4th of July” or “limited series”.

Do not use smileys or more than one exclamation point in your advertisement.

The target URL in your ad must work, otherwise Google will not show your ad. It has to be a website, do not try to link to an email or pictures.

What happens if your ad is disapproved:

You will receive an email from google which tells you what you did wrong. You can resubmit your ad after you changed the violations.

Your account might get suspended, if you resubmit the same advertisements with the violations several times or if you have serious violations within your ads. Your account will be stopped running and even related accounts might be stopped and even new accounts opened up by you might be suspended automatically.

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